


Unearthed

by fandomgurl77



Series: The Origin AU [3]
Category: Dumbo (2019), Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja
Genre: Café, Discovery, Eating, Gen, History, Multi, News, Old Films, Talking, antiques, silent films, sitting, time capsule, videos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:14:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23922928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomgurl77/pseuds/fandomgurl77
Summary: During a day in Coney Island, a young man named Juggo and his friends discover and unearth a time capsule from the early 1900s. What they find inside is amazing...perhaps for the whole world.
Relationships: Randy Cunningham & OC, V.A Vandevere & OFC, V.A Vandevere & OMC
Series: The Origin AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1720267
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a day in Coney Island, a young man named Juggo and his friends discover and unearth a time capsule from the early 1900s. What they find inside is amazing...perhaps for the whole world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The references to the films in this story are inspired by Dumbo: Circus of Dreams.
> 
> The parts in italics are flashbacks of past events.

‘That was delicious!’ 20-year old Juggo said to his best friends, Julian, Jacques, Dave, Theresa, Howard and Randy as they sat at a table outside a café that was part of a strip of eateries located where Dreamland had once stood before being burnt down 100 years before.

‘I wonder what was here a century ago’, Dave said, ‘It’s a random thought, I know.’

‘Well, luckily for you, I’ve read some archived newspaper articles on the Internet and in books’, Juggo said, ‘According to them, this whole area where we are now was once a huge amusement park named Dreamland, which was open from April 20th, 1912 to May 26th, 1919.’

‘Really?’ Dave and the others asked, ‘What happened to it?’

‘The park met its fiery demise due to a power surge that started a fire in the circus-like Colosseum, which rapidly spread throughout the park; the tower in the centre was the last structure to come down due to the heat and intensity.’

‘Gosh’, everyone said in disbelief, ‘At least we now have fuse-boxes in houses and other buildings to help prevent the same thing from happening again.’

‘Yes’, Juggo said, ‘The Dreamland fire and other disasters resulted in the installation of fuse-boxes to become mandatory in all future buildings.’

‘Speaking of Dreamland’, Theresa said, ‘I heard that the owner had severe depression as a result of the fire and was never seen or heard from again after he was declared unfit to stand trial by reason of insanity.’

‘Yes’, Juggo said, ‘Instead of going to jail, the owner, V.A Vandevere, spent the final five years of his life in a mental asylum.’

‘Ah, well’, Juggo said, ‘We better head back to the station to go back to Norrisville.’

‘Yes’, everyone said as they stood up and began walking towards the lights at the corner.


	2. Chapter 2

While the friends were walking, Randy noticed that one of the big concrete slabs on the ground was slightly ajar.

‘Hey, guys’, he said before they huddled around him, ‘Come and have a look at this!’

‘It’s just a slab of concrete’, Julian and everyone else said, ‘This whole area is covered with concrete, except for the lake with the bridge spanning it in the centre.’

‘Yes, but look’, Randy said, ‘This slab is slightly crooked, as if it’s been lifted.’

It was then that Julian saw what looked like soil underneath.

‘Guys’, he said, ‘I think we should dig. There must be something under here.’

‘But what about the slab?’ Randy asked before he accidentally moved it out of the way with his foot, revealing that it wasn’t a concrete slab, but a thick metal plate designed to look like concrete.

‘Oh’, he said when he looked down as the others started digging, ‘That was easy.’

**A few seconds later…**

‘Hey’, Juggo said in response to hitting a cold, silver-coloured piece of metal with his hand, ‘Look what I’ve found!’

‘What is it?’ the others asked as Juggo cleaned the soil off the large metal container, ‘It looks like some sort of container.’

‘Can someone please help me with pulling it out of here?’ Juggo asked.

‘Ok’, Julian and Theresa said as they lifted it out of the hole and put it down in front of them.

‘Oh my!’ Julian said with excitement, ‘It’s a time capsule!’

‘I wonder what’s inside?’ Randy said, ‘Let’s open it and find out!’

‘On to it’, Julian said as he picked the lock with a piece of metal wire until it finally unlocked and opened, revealing a hidden mass under a white silk tablecloth.

‘There’s something under there’, Juggo said while looking at the circular impressions on the fabric before he carefully unwrapped the contents.

‘What the…?’ Dave and Howard asked as a collection of large round tins were placed on the cloth on the ground, ‘All that work for a bunch of old, useless tins?’

‘Look closer’, Juggo replied in amazement when he noticed that the tins had labels stuck to them, ‘I can’t believe what I’m seeing!’

‘Cor blimey!’ Julian said, ‘They’re old film reels!’

‘Yes. And look at the names on some of the tins’, Juggo said.

It was then that Jacques shared a piece of information that shocked and excited them.

‘Guys’, he said on recognising the name of one of the films, ‘Do you know what we’ve found here?’

‘No, apart from a bunch of old films’, the other said, ‘Why?’

‘Well, going by the names on the tins, I’m almost certain that we’ve found the entire film library of Vandevere Enterprises’, Jacques said.

‘You’ve got to be kidding!’ the others said with shock, ‘The whole lot were assumed to have been lost in the fire in 1919!’

‘I _knew_ that V.A must have buried them in a time capsule somewhere in Dreamland for protection!’ Jacques said, ‘And to think that _we_ found them in 2019, 100 years after the fire, it’s incredible.’

‘Amazing!’ Juggo said, ‘We _must_ get this on the news!’

‘Yes’, Theresa said, ‘The country and world must know that these films have finally been unearthed!’

Meanwhile, a young woman overheard this and came rushing over.

‘Hey, guys’, she said, ‘Debbie Kang here. So, is it true that you found the “lost” films of Vandevere Enterprises?’

‘Um…well, yes’, Juggo said while shaking with excitement, ‘And here they are.’

‘Amazing!’ Debbie said as she took pictures of each tin, ‘This may be the biggest find in the country this century to date!’


	3. Chapter 3

**_September 29 th,_ **

**_1918,_ **

**_Dreamland, Coney Island._ **

_‘Happy birthday, Mr. Vandevere!!’ the performers and audience in the Colosseum shouted after the mid-day show._

_‘Thank you all!’ Vandevere said though a corded microphone, ‘Remember, in celebration of today, there’s a 10 percent discount for all rides and attractions, and 17 percent discount for Club Vandevere members, so go out there and enjoy yourselves!’_

_In response to this, the Colosseum filled with applause and cheering before the audience started leaving and the performers retreated to their dressing rooms._

_A few seconds later, Vandevere was approached by Marie and Bertie._

_‘Happy birthday, Dad’, they said as they gave him a cylindrical metal object, ‘We decided to get you a present.’_

_‘Thank you, Marie and Bertie’, Vandevere said, ‘It’s just what I needed.’_

_‘For what?’ Bertie asked._

_‘Bertie!’ Marie replied, ‘Don’t you remember? It’s for the films.’_

_‘Yes’, Vandevere said, ‘I want to put my entire library of films in here for safe-keeping.’_

_‘That’s an excellent idea!’ Marie said, ‘They definitely need protection from dust, heat and downright theft.’_

_‘Anyway, Vandevere said, ‘If you would be so kind as to bring the container into my office, that would be great.’_

_‘Sure thing, Dad’, Marie and Bertie said as they carried the container out of the Colosseum and followed Vandevere to the tower._

**Back in the present...**

‘Finally’, Randy’s mother, Claire, said at 5:55 the following evening, ‘It’s great to be home out of that traffic!’

‘Time to switch the T.V on for the news, I think’, Randy said, ‘It’s almost 6:00.’

‘Ok’, Claire said as she sat in her chair and pressed the button on the remote to turn the T.V on just as the news started with an exciting story.

‘What the juice is this?’ she asked before looking at Randy, who then looked at the screen.

 _‘Sweet cheese! It’s about the films!’_ he thought before looking back at her.

‘Um…’, he said, I think we should keep watching and find out.’

It was then that the camera on the screen switched over to the newsroom.

“Good evening, Norrisville”, the newsreader said, “There was excitement at Coney Island yesterday as a group of seven friends unearthed a time capsule from under where Dreamland stood over 100 years ago. However, the typical outing became a cause of national celebration when they opened the time capsule and found it contained the entire ‘lost’ film library of now-defunct company Vandevere Enterprises.”

‘I can’t believe it!’ Claire said in shock, ‘They’ve been considered “lost” since the Dreamland fire on 26th May 1919!’

**Meanwhile at Julian’s house…**

‘Can you believe that this has really happened?’ Julian’s mother, Clara, asked as she sat with her husband, Thomas, on a black leather couch in the T.V room on the 1st floor of their three-storey mansion in Norrisville’s swanky Greenvale suburb.

‘No’, Thomas replied, ‘I don’t know what to say; it seems so surreal.’

However, they got their biggest shock yet when one of the friends who had unearthed the films turned out to be their son, Julian.

‘What?’ Clara asked before she and Thomas looked over at Julian, ‘ _You’re_ one of the seven friends who discovered these films??’

‘Um…well…yes’, Julian admitted, ‘I was there along with some old school mates; Juggo, Dave, Theresa, Jacques, Randy and Howard.’

‘Well then’, Clara said, ‘We and the whole country – no, the entire world, thank you all for discovering these films.’

‘Thank you’, Julian said, ‘However, it was Randy who noticed that the “concrete slab” covering the chamber that the capsule was inside was slightly off-centre compared to the rest, as well as being a thick metal plate painted to look like its surroundings.’


	4. Chapter 4

_‘Bertie’, Marie said to Bertie as they entered the base of the tower and walked to the elevator, ‘Why are we in here?’_

_‘Oh’, Bertie said, ‘Dad just has something to see to up in the Control Room.’_

_‘Ok then’, Marie said as the elevator doors closed._

_‘Ok, kids’, Vandevere said when the doors opened and they walked down a short corridor to a big mahogany door, ‘Beyond this door is my office.’_

_‘Can we go and see it?’ Marie asked._

_‘Of course’, Vandevere replied, ‘Just be sure not to knock anything over.’_

_‘We won’t’, Marie and Bertie said as Vandevere opened the door._

_Wow!’ Marie said in awe as she looked out the giant round window behind the desk, ‘You can see **everything** from here!’_

_‘Yes’, Bertie said as he put the container onto the desk, ‘Dad had this window put in so he can look out over the park at any time of the day or night. It also helps to warm the room up really fast on chilly mornings as the sun rises, since it shines directly through the window.’_

At 8:45 the next morning, Julian found an unexpected item in the mailbox in front of the gates.

‘Hey, guys’, he said when he walked into the kitchen a few minutes later, ‘Guess what I found in the mailbox this morning?’

‘What is it, son?’ Clara and Thomas said, ‘Tell us.’

‘It’s this’, Julian said before he put a small white, red and blue coloured metal box onto the table with a piece of paper beside it.

‘Hold on!’ Clara said upon noticing a set of instructions on the piece of paper, ‘What does this say?’

‘I don’t know exactly’, Julian said, ‘But it seems to be some sort of robot, according to the instructions.’

**A few seconds later…**

‘Sweet cheese, you’re right!’ Clara said, ‘This device is a NX1.0 Cleaner-Bot that cleans and polishes the floor.’

‘Really?’ Julian asked, ‘It looks pretty old to be a robot though, doesn’t it?’

‘Correct’, Clara replied, ‘According to my research and the instructions here, there were only 25 made during the three years from 1913 to 1916 for the Wonders of Science attraction in Dreamland.’

‘What?’ Julian said in a shocked voice, ‘I can’t believe it!’

‘I couldn’t believe it when I found that out also’, Clara said, ‘Now, I’ve noticed that this one is coloured with vertical red, white and blue stripes, like the French flag.’

‘Yes’, Julian said, ‘Now that you mention it, I suppose it does look like a 3D version of it.’

‘Anyway’, Clara said, ‘According to my research, there is believed to have only been one made with this colour scheme, which was never part of the display.’

‘What was it for then?’ Julian asked.

‘Well, this was the very first fully electronic robot made and was believed to have cleaned and polished the floor of V.A Vandevere’s office’, Clara replied.

‘Amazing!’ Julian said with excitement, ‘But why the unique colour scheme?’

‘Ah, that’s where it gets interesting’, Clara said, ‘The name “Vandevere” is half French and half Dutch, hence the colours on the robot; the same stripes were used on and in Dreamland’s Colosseum in the centre of the park beside the tower.’

‘I honestly _can’t_ believe what I have just heard!’ Julian said, ‘Just think about it…we’re in possession of a piece of world and technological history with this robot.’

‘Speaking of unbelievable’, Clara said, ‘Jacques said on the phone yesterday that he wants to speak with you and the Klub about something at his place this morning before lunch.’

‘Ok’, Julian said, ‘Tell him I’ll be there as soon as possible.’

‘Ok’, Clara said before Julian closed the front door, ‘See you later.’


	5. Chapter 5

_‘There’, Vandevere said as he put the last of his films into the metal container and covered them with a folded-up silk tablecloth before closing and locking the lid, ‘All done.’_

_‘Where are you going to put them, Dad?’ Bertie and Marie asked._

_‘Well, I’ve been thinking about it, and since there’s no room up here, I’ve decided to…bury them under Dreamland’, Vandevere replied._

_‘What??’ Bertie asked in shock, ‘Are you insane??’_

_‘Hm…maybe I am **a bit** on the insane side…’ Vandevere replied, ‘That’s why I came up with and had Dreamland built. No, seriously though, it’s the only way to protect the films from situations like theft, the weather, water damage, or the biggest threat of all, fire.’_

_‘What do you mean?’ Marie asked._

_‘You see, Dreamland is illuminated and run by a huge network of electrical wires, lights and animatronic displays’, Vandevere replied, ‘ **If** there was to be a power surge or other fault where the system was overloaded, the entire park could end up burning down, in the worst case. I hope it never happens though; I’d be financially ruined if it did. So, I want to bury the films under the park for protection.'_

‘Good morning’, Julian’, Jacques and the rest of the Klub, Randy and Howard said when Julian walked into the living room of Jacques’ 9th floor apartment opposite the university, ‘Glad you could make it.’

‘Thanks’, Julian said as he sat on the couch, ‘I came here as fast as I could on the bus with all the traffic.’

‘Anyway, Jacques’, Theresa said, ‘What do you want to tell us?’

‘We want to know too!’ Randy and the others said.

‘Ok’, Jacques said, ‘You remember that in school, I never revealed my last name, right?’

‘Come to think of it’, Julian said, ‘You’re right.’

‘Well’, Jacques said, ‘I’m finally admitting today to all of you, that I’m a descendant of the owner of Dreamland.’

‘What???’ Howard and the others asked with shocked voices, ‘ _Your_ surname is Vandevere??’

‘Well, it’s Noiseux-Vandevere, actually’, Jacques replied, ‘This means that I’m the 2nd great-grandson of V.A Vandevere, through his illegitimate daughter, Marie Noiseux-Vandevere.’

‘No wonder you knew the name of one of the films we found recently!’ Randy said, ‘They’re like your family films then.’

‘Yes. I’ve always been a little bit sad with Dreamland burning down and Vandevere Enterprises going bust as a result’, Jacques said, ‘It’s like losing a family member, or two in my case.’


	6. Chapter 6

_May 26 th, 1919_

_Dreamland, Coney Island_

_10:35 p.m._

_Vandevere watched on in horror outside the main gates of Dreamland as the park burned down along with a huge crowd of people that gradually became smaller over time until the fire burnt out._

_‘No…’ Vandevere said a few minutes later, still in shock at what just happened, ‘My life’s work…it’s all gone!’_

_Suddenly, he heard a voice and footsteps behind him._

_‘Mr. Vandevere’, the owner of the voice said as his colleague put handcuffs on him, ‘You’re under arrest and charged with arson and misconduct!’_

**_‘_ ** _NEVER!’ Vandevere shouted as he tried to run away, only to be caught and held down a few seconds later by three back-up officers, one of whom was spat at._

_‘GET OFF OF ME!!’ Vandevere screamed, ‘FUCK YOU ALL!!’_

_‘Congratulations’, one of the officers said, ‘You’ve just earned yourself three extra charges of resisting arrest, assaulting an officer and swearing in public.’_

_Over the next half hour, Vandevere was hauled to a waiting police wagon and locked in the back._

_‘LET ME OUT!!’ he screamed as he shook the bars violently like a caged animal._

_‘Serves you right, buffoon tycoon!’ Bertie shouted when his grandparents showed up, ‘I should’ve known that you didn’t really_ _care about me, or anyone else; it was just **you** and that **stupid** park!’_

_It was then one of the officers decided to taunt Vandevere by walking up to the bars with his cane._

_‘My cane!’ he said as he tried to reach for it, to no avail, ‘Please…give it here!’_

_‘Sorry, but you will **never** be seeing this again, as it’s been repossessed, along with your gold and silver; even your clothes belong to the bank now!’ he said._

_A couple of months later, on July 30 th, Vandevere was declared unfit to stand trial by reason of insanity and had all charges against him dropped, while his closest allies were found guilty on all charges and sent to jail._

_‘Mr. Vandevere’, the judge said, ‘It has been decided that you will be sent to live in a mental asylum.’_

_‘Yes, Your Honour’, Vandevere said._

_‘And your cane will be going with you too, since you can’t seem to go anywhere without it.’_

A year later, on July 3rd, 2020, Randy and Howard were watching random videos on Shoob Tube when a thumbnail on the right-hand side of the screen caught his eye.

 _“Opening and closing logos of all Vandevere Enterprises films”_ the description read.

‘Hey, Howard’, he said when he clicked on the thumbnail, ‘How’s about we watch this?’

‘Um…ok’, Howard said as a short description of the contents of the video appeared on the screen before Randy paused it.

_“These are the opening and closing logos used for the nine films of Vandevere Enterprises, a company located in Coney Island, NY from 1910 to 1919. These logos were the most elaborate and advanced in the silent film era.’_

‘Ok then’, Howard said, ‘Let’s watch it.’

‘Right’, Randy said as he clicked the play button.

A second later, the screen went blank before two lightbulbs turned on at each side of the front of the screen, followed by three more rows behind them in quick succession until the iconic archway gate illuminated the darkness, together with the letters spelling Dreamland.

‘Wait a minute, Howard’, Randy said, ‘It’s not over yet.’

Just as he said this, the camera zoomed through the gates and into the Colosseum, only to stop in the centre of the ring and panned upwards until the Vandevere Films logo was focused in the centre before the screen went blank and the words “ _Closing Logo for Diary of a Lost Girl”_ appeared.

‘Ok’, Randy said, ‘Here is the closing logo of the same film.’

Suddenly, a medium-sized box-like object appeared on the screen before a robotic arm emerged from the top of it, made a few loops before displaying the same logo as before to the audience for a few seconds until the screen went blank.


End file.
